New areas emerging for affordable housing in Dubai

Meydan, Jebel Ali, Dubailand, and Umm Suqeim Road are emerging as new growth corridors for affordable housing, according to property website Bayut.com.

Approximately 20,000 to 25,000 residential units are expected to enter Dubai’s realty sector over the course of 2015, and areas bordering the city centre, such as International Media Production Zone, Jumeirah Village, Green Community and Dubai Sports City are also expected to emerge as feasible options for housing the mid- to low-income groups, according to Haider Ali Khan, Bayut.com CEO.

In the villa market, the large amount of new supply on either side of the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road is expected to provide affordable options for buyers, owing to the increased activity from Barsha south to Meydan on one side and Dubailand on the other.

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“It seems that the real estate market of Dubai has come to a specific point where it is witnessing a lack of space available for apartments in certain prime areas of Dubai. Therefore, supply is expected to come in the form of more affordable offerings in locations like the Green Community and further towards Dubai World Central,” said Khan.

“During the course of expansion of any city, affordable districts often tend to spring up on the fringes of the main commercial districts. Such districts are then absorbed into the city over time. Therefore, it can be safely said that when searching for affordable housing in Dubai, one must consider the residential units located on the fringes of commercial districts and edges of major residential ones,” he added.

He said the introduction of mortgage caps and increased registration fees meant owner-occupiers were becoming more active in the market.

“Many property experts are of the view that the issue of affordability has been amongst those that had been silently brewing away in the background for quite some time. The introduction of Federal Mortgage caps and doubling of property registration fees saw genuine end-users in the market attempting at becoming homeowners from tenants.

“The tighter regulations brought a slowdown in the market that marked affordability across all segments while infusing stability in the realty sector,” he said.

Bayut.com said around 65,000 residential units are expected to be delivered in Dubai in the coming two years. Of these, apartments will constitute the larger share with 79 percent, while villas will account for the remaining 21 percent.